an eventual Nobel laureate, developed a system for measuring the economic output of our nation. The system was known as the National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA).

NIPA

National Income and Products Accounts, became the methodology for calculationg the total dollar value of all final goods and services produced in the economy each year. This value became known as the Gross National Product (GNP). While the U.S. currently uses a measuring tool known as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), there is only a slight variation in the way GDP and GNP are calculated.

GDP

Gross Domestic Product. the value of all final goods and services produced each year. Until 1991, the U.S. measured the nation's output by looking at all U.S. goods and services produced here and abroad. We no longer count American production abroad but do count all production in the U.S. by any country. GDP is broken up into two parts, income and expenditures.